Lowell water worker filed suit while on sick time

LOWELL -- Last month Lowell Regional Water Utility foreman Geoff Whitman filed a lawsuit against a co-worker at the same time Whitman was getting paid by the city for a sick day, The Sun has learned.

Whitman's lawsuit was filed against LRWU head operator Sean Fernandez on Sept. 19. It sought an injunction seeking to silence Fernandez from talking about steroids that he said Whitman had had delivered to the job several years ago.

Whitman, who works from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, put in for eight hours of sick time on Wednesday, Sept. 19, according to the timecard that Auditor Sheryl Wright provided to The Sun.

He filed his lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Sept. 19, according to Matthew Day, Middlesex Superior Court's first assistant clerk. Day reviewed for The Sun the time the filing fees were processed to determine when Whitman came in.

Whitman did not have an attorney and filed the suit himself.

Whitman may have also dismissed the suit two days later while on sick time.

According to his timecard, Whitman worked for five hours on Sept. 21 and put in for three hours of sick time. That is the same day he voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit.

It is unclear when Whitman filed the handwritten dismissal form. The clerk's offices at the Woburn court are open from 8:30 a.m to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

Wright directed The Sun to Whitman's supervisor to find out what time of day Whitman took his sick time on Sept.

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21.

LRWU Executive Director Daniel Lahiff declined to provide a breakdown of Whitman's work and sick time in question.

Whitman did not respond to a request for comment.

Lahiff, who LRWU employees say normally asks for doctors' notes when employees call in sick, said he did not remember receiving a doctor's note from Whitman for the sick day he took on Sept. 19. He also said he was unaware as to what Whitman did that day.

Asked if it is appropriate for an employee to take sick time to file a lawsuit, Lahiff said Wednesday, "When someone comes in and takes sick time, it should be for sick time."

According to city code, any employee who fraudulently reports illness or injury to secure the benefit of sick leave with pay "shall be penalized by losing all rights to sick leave for a period of one year from that date, plus whatever accrued sick leave may at that time be held to his credit."

Asked if it is appropriate for an employee to take sick time to file a lawsuit, Human Resources Manager Mary Callery wrote in an email: "In instances where the City's sick leave policy has been violated, the City would take appropriate action. Such action is, however, confidential in nature."

Whitman started 2012 with 757.5 hours of sick time available and received another 120 hours on June 15. He has taken 20.5 hours this year, according to Wright.

Whitman also started the year with 22 hours of personal time and received an additional 32 hours on July 1. He has used 26 hours of personal time so far, according to Wright.

Roland Milliard, Fernandez's attorney, said Fernandez plans to file suit against Whitman for damages caused by Whitman's initial suit. Milliard expects the suit to be filed no later than Monday.

"We made a written request to Mr. Whitman with an offer to settle short of litigation, to which he failed to respond," Milliard said Wednesday. "Therefore, my client has no choice but to go to court."

In 2007, Whitman was suspended for two weeks for having anabolic steroids in his possession on the job.

Fernandez told The Sun the steroids were shipped to the Water Department.

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